Animal Kingdom

[peter11435]

There's also a beef I have about calling AK a theme park, its not a theme park, its a re-creation park. All Joe R. has done is cloned existing areas. Some people go for that. But to me, that's not theme-ing, nor does that require any brain-power. That's replication. Themeing is not copying a place. Main Street USA is a caricature of a real Main street.

First of all I am not sure how recreating a far off place is not theming. That aside the fact is that Animal Kingdom is not simply re-creations of existing areas. World Showcase at Epcot and much of the Studios would fit that description far better than AK. I point you towards this quote from Joe Rohde:

You know, we don’t really do replications, right? We create our places, we create our stories. But we want to create a place, that when you’re walking around in it, you still have the sense that “man, this feels like REAL!”

The fact that you believed Ak was simply recreations shows just how great the theming really is. Objects and buildings in AK may have been heavily inspired by things they saw other places but they were not copied.

 

[Mystic]

Okay, I'm probably going to get roasted :fork: for this but in my opinion, anyone that says AK is a half day park just doesn't get it, only goes for the rides and/or is not an animal person. I love AK and I'm never through the park in less than a day. My favourite part of the park isn't even an attraction. I love the Maharaja Jungle Trek. I love stopping and watching the tigers. I also love watching the meer cats on the Pangani Trail. I see so many people racing through these two paths that they don't take the time to stop and enjoy the animals and the surroundings.

In 2001, my mom and I did the Backstage Safari at AK and we absolutely loved it. It gives a whole new appreciation for what Disney is trying to do with Animal Kingdom. How many people can say they've gotten to pet a rhino or gotten within 10 feet of a young giraffe. I can be cause that's what happened on the tour. :wave:

I will take AK over MGM anyday. To me AK is a full day park while MGM is merely a 1/2 day park since I'm always leaving it by 3pm.

 

[col]

i always go to animal kingdom on my first propper day at disney. i really like it there -people think its crap and that it only takes up half the day but if people paid more attention to the detail around the park they would find it interesting and considering it shuts early than all the other parks you would have time to visit downtown disney or the boardwalk or go to another park and watch there fireworks, plus it very relaxing just walking around there.

i really enjoy going to animal kingdom and this time when i go im hopefully gonna be able to watch an operation in the animal hospital.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I love the atmosphere, the shows, the food, the CMs and the animals (especially the tigers and gorillas).

No one would have guessed

 

[barnum42]

My favourite part of the park isn't even an attraction. I love the Maharaja Jungle Trek. I love stopping and watching the tigers.

It's an attraction in my book It's just that for some, anything that does not involve sitting in a moving vehicle is crap and they don't want to know. Different strokes.

But I'm glad to see another tiger nut :wave: More than once I've been to Magic Kingdom from it's opening then head over to Animal Kingdom just to catch the gorillas and tigers at the end of their day

 

[Mystic]

It's an attraction in my book It's just that for some, anything that does not involve sitting in a moving vehicle is crap and they don't want to know. Different strokes.

But I'm glad to see another tiger nut :wave: More than once I've been to Magic Kingdom from it's opening then head over to Animal Kingdom just to catch the gorillas and tigers at the end of their day

I got an awesome shot of the tigers one year. I was setting up to take a picture of one of them when out of the blue another tiger pounced on the one I was going to take. It jumped up out of the moat and pounced which is when I took the picture so I have a great shot of Tigers at play.

Thanks to AK I have a new favourite animal. I still love the large cats but I absolutely adore Giraffes, all because I got to get up close with one.

It's called ANIMAL Kingdom for a reason. The ANIMALs are the attractions.

 

[bgraham34]

I am not a big fan of it. I spend a few hours there and take off. I never go there twice on a trip either. But when EE opens I am sure that will change for me.

 

[barnum42]

I am not a big fan of it. I spend a few hours there and take off. I never go there twice on a trip either. But when EE opens I am sure that will change for me.

Then I guess you fit my theory that some people are just in the parks for the rides :wave:

 

[luvorlando]

I like the AK, but, being the ride lover that I am, I have to force myself to slow down and appreciate all it has to offer. I have the same problem with the World Showcase at Epcot, but the shopping and dining make it easier for me there.

In all the times that I've been to WDW, I've never spent a full day in the AK. On the other hand, I've never taken a trip to WDW and not visited there since it opened.

Some of my favorite attractions are there. I would feel as though my trip were not complete if I missed Festival of the Lion King, and It's Tough to be a Bug.

 

[mikeymouse]

I HEARD THEY ARE GOING TO CLOSE AK DUE TO LOW ATTENDENCE. THEY PLAN ON DEMOLISHING THE ENTIRE PARK, INCLUDING EVEREST, BEFORE IT EVEN OPENS. ok, yea, not funny, i know. this is the least favorite of the parks for me. dunno y. just is.

 

[Valawen9]

I like AK just fine, but the only thing I don't like is that it seems like it takes forever to get from one place to the next! So much walking!

 

[CTXRover]

AK is my favorite park. I can't really tell you why, but I really love it. It doesn't give me that happy-go-lucky feeling I get when I enter the MK, but there is something about it that I love. The sounds, the smells, the incredible themeing, etc. I love to just sit on a bench and take in the atmosphere.

I'm always surprised to hear people say AK has "bad" or "low" attendance. Last year AK's attendance increased 7% to 7.8 million and is the 5th most visited park in the US behind Disney World's three other parks and Disneyland. It is well ahead of the competition down the road which saw 6.7 million at USF and 6.3 million at IOA and not far behind Disney-MGM at 8.3 million. While its the least visited Disney World park, it hardly has what I would consider "bad" or "poor" attendance. With Everest and probably increased park hours, attendance should see a nice boost next year (barring any world events that could affect people's travel plans)

 

[animal_king1990]

I HEARD THEY ARE GOING TO CLOSE AK DUE TO LOW ATTENDENCE. THEY PLAN ON DEMOLISHING THE ENTIRE PARK, INCLUDING EVEREST, BEFORE IT EVEN OPENS. ok, yea, not funny, i know. this is the least favorite of the parks for me. dunno y. just is.

Animal Kingdom is my favourite park simply because it has the best theming and atmosphere of any theme park in the world(for me). Animal Kingdom is sort of like Adventureland at MK. You feel very relaxed and lose all stress in your body. In fact, all of the parks at WDW do that to you but I feel like AK does it the best. My least favourite park would be MGM Studios because it doesn't give me that "feel" as much as the other parks.

 

[LouDisney]

I love the Animal Kingdom. I think it's beautiful and I think it's very relaxing too.

 

[DisneyFanLS]

Although you have to hand it to Joe and Co. for the huge undertaking, to me AK is nothing more than a fancy zoo environment with average quality animals and mediocre rides (to be changed with EE) plopped in. The landscaping is top notch, but to me, something is missing (more than just rides).

If you ever get a chance to visit San Diego Wild Animal Park -- do so -- its incredible. That park is still to me the golden standard for zoo attractions (yet its over 30 years old!)

The killer attraction is the Wgasa Bush line railway, a 5 mile, hour long outdoor monorail treck around several land zones with lots of animals in natural habitat (that attraction apparently inspired Spielberg for Jurassic Park). Its Amazing what 2200 acres will do for animals roaming.

There's also a beef I have about calling AK a theme park, its not a theme park, its a re-creation park. All Joe R. has done is cloned existing areas. Some people go for that. But to me, that's not theme-ing, nor does that require any brain-power. That's replication. Themeing is not copying a place. Main Street USA is a caricature of a real Main street. Its cleaned up, adjusted, compacted etc to provide entertainment quality to a place with historical references. Check out Adventure-land, same deal --- its not historically accurate, its highly manipulated emotionally charged architecture. AK has little to any of that.

All AK does it seems is use the photoshop clone tool and plop stuff in, with great detail. Some people go for that and yes, it requires great discipline.

But to me, to be a 'theme' park -- AK could withstand putting in some more attractions with entertainment value (see original MK). Imagineers talk about the importance of story. But yet they tell the same one (which you could hardly call it a story, more like heavy handed pedantic moralizing) over and over at the park: man shouldn't mess with Mother nature.

Boo hoo! After 4 hurricanes through Disney property I'm sure this 'story' is getting old. Mother nature can defend herself thankyou very much. Man isn't all powerful. Good lord sing a new tune.

AK could withstand to pack more animals in, increase that density and do something with that failed discovery island moat. If they were really interested in pumping up attendance -- get some top notch sit down dining in the park and extend the hours by 2 or two more in the evening -- get locals to visit the park, a la Epcot after 4.

Just an idea.

WOW!!!!!! and WHEW!!!!!!! :hammer:

 

[Christina]

I really love AK. It's one of my favorite parks and it's the only park where I feel I can go at a relaxed pace- which is sometimes worth more to me than the actual admission itself. The animals, the natural theming makes for a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

My main gripe about AK is it's layout, and the incredible amount of heat it seems to recieve in the hotter months. It's a terrible, TERRIBLE park to visit in the summer days. It seems like the heat is a 1000 times more evident in AK than in other parks.

I also agree more rides are necessary to launch AK into the number one or number two spot, but I believe it can be easily achieved.

 

[GoofyMom2]

We all adore AK in our family. Oor favorite park after MK.. I have spent 2 1/2 days there and still haven't seen it all (want to see Flights of Wonder and parade). And I made my DS promise me that this next trip we can eat someplace else besides Pizzafari! :lol:

Maybe because I am a huge animal lover and have of course passed this on to the kids, but we also enjoy the shows and the atmosphere. It's a nice way to relax after waiting in lines at the other parks. We can stay in the bid aviaries for a very long time searching for each species, watching them drink, listen to their calls etc. While I admit there is a bad layout of sorts and a lot of walking, it is still more relaxing.

This is just my thought, but I believe the park closes earlier because the animals are on a schedule for eating, resting etc. I volunteer at our zoo and if we are open late for a special event, it really throws the animals off. The animals go into barns at night, and I assume are fed during this time as well (good enticer to get them in!). If it stayed open very late, the animals would not have their proper schedule which could affect their health, behavior etc. Plus the keepers need time to get everyone fed, bedded, locked in, checked, enclosure checked etc. Just a thought.......

I see EMH are really just for rides and some species around the TOL that stay out all night (birds, just like our zoo).

We love Animal Kingdom!

 

[bsandersjr]

I enjoy the park. The layout is not my favorite, but I find the time I sped in the park enjoyable.

 

[slipknottin]

AK is brand new, it will improve greatly over time. When MGM opened, it only had two rides running. AK was much the same.

 

[jmani56]

I also think Animal Kingdom is a little under rated, but lets not forget that it does need improvement.The only "animal" attraction that is any different from a zoo is the safari. I remember looking at concept art for a Jungle Cruise-type attraction with live animals, but I haven't heard anything about it since. I have never even walked over to Camp Minnie-Mickey, probably because there is nothing big drawing me over there. Like many, I travel with others who are not interested in little details, and I am usually trying to cram 4 parks into 4 days due to time and money issues. There are a ton of cool ideas that could make AK go from a good park to an awesome park. I think only a certain part of the world is represented so far, so I am waiting for North American and Arctic animal attractions. Imagine sailing down the Colorado River in a canyon with live bears and moose around you, that would be pretty cool. This stuff is easy for me to talk about, but we forget that it takes years and millions of dollars to make these things happen. I think so far they have done a great job of letting you escape to a rainforest or african village. This park is just going to be different; the projects go beyond just building a pavillion with a dark ride inside. I think in 10 years AK will be a favorite for most.